Even
since the demise of the USSR, Russia is still so big it is beyond
comprehension. The country straddles Europe and Asia, although the
majority
of the population lives in the European part of the country.
The Asian
part of Russia is dominated by the Steppe and the icy wastes of Siberia.

Russia
faced a hard struggle from Communism to Capitalism that took it
through corruption and civil violence. Today the country
seems to be
getting more on its feet and keen to regain its influence in
Europe. This
is a country with a history and culture to match any of "Western"
Europe,
one only needs look at St. Petersburg and the capital city Moscow to
see
this.

Russia
always held a fascination for Western visitors and this has not
diminished today.

My trip to
Russia begins in Finland,
in the town
of Lappeenranta in the harbour at about 5:00 pm, along with Karoliina
Kiianen
with whom I was travelling.

The M.V.
Kristina Brahe does regular cruises down the astonishing Saimaa
Canal to the formerly Finnish town of Vyborg (Viipuri in Finnish,
Wiborg
in Swedish and
in Cyrillic Russian)
which became part of the
Soviet Union along with a big chunk of Karelia after World War II.

The
Kristina Brahe leaves Lappeenranta at around 6:00 pm and heads out
first
into Lake Saimaa and then into the Canal, which stretches 43 km and
drops
through 8 locks - so great is the drop in altitude level that when you
stand
at the top of the Castle in Vyborg you are at the same height as the
water
level on Lake Saimaa!

The
Kristina Brahe functions as a kind of floating pub for much of the
duration
of the journey. The Finns on board are mostly heading to Russia for
cheap
beer and cigarettes and, determined to make the best of it, are getting
rowdily
drunk in the confined space inside the boat. A respite came
when we
went upstairs and stood on deck staring at the pitch darkness of the
Russian
countryside around us. I have never seen it so dark, so many
stars
twinkled in the sky and the eerie patterns of the bow waves off the
boat
in the black water made this a very restful memory.

Eventually even the hard-partying Finns had to call
it a night, and almost everyone on board was asleep when the Kristina
Brahe
first entered the Gulf of Finland and then pulled up alongside the
mooring
in Vyborg at 2:00 am the following morning.

An early
start was necessary at 6:00 am to get up and get ready to visit
Russian soil for the first time in both our lives. Slightly
sleepily
we queued to get through customs; me with camera in pocket, Karoliina
nervously
clutching her mobile phone. Once through we waited by the harbour,
across
the road from the mighty Castle, for the bus to take us into the town
centre.
The contrast from affluent and clean Finland to poor and
dirty Russia
was immediately apparent and stark. The bus was on the edge
of falling
to pieces and it passed through the remnants of once proud houses the
very
short distance to the market square.

For the
majority on the boat this was the destination; time to stock up on
the cheapest beer and fags imaginable, even though most of it is of
'dubious'
origin. Me and Karoliina, however, were here to see the town!
We
shopped for souvenirs (astonishingly cheap, of course) and then went
into
the covered market. Here we saw one of the least pleasant
aspects of
our trip, the meat counter with its pigs heads, very raw-looking dead
things
and clouds of flies (accompanied by a pretty disgusting odour the
origins
of which we didn't care to think to hard about). Escape from
the covered
market and its charnel atmosphere was very welcome indeed.

We took the decision to walk back towards the Castle
and the boat, despite Karoliina's nerves which never quite stopped her
wondering
when we would be mugged by wandering bands of Russian thugs.
It was
a cold, still day and I got some wonderful photos of the Castle
reflected
in the still waters. We had to wait a while for the Castle to
open;
this is Russia after all and it was a bit much to expect things to open
on
time.

We were
rewarded with a scramble up the tower of the Castle to some superb
views back towards Finland and across Vyborg Town. Like the
whole town
the Castle is suffering from lack of care and the rail around the tower
walk
was a little shaky to say the least. After a good look around
the Castle,
it was sadly back to the Kristina Brahe; although I think for Karoliina
is
wasn't a moment too soon. To read more about Vyborg Castle visit the
Castles
of Europe pages.

The journey
back up the Saimaa Canal was in the daylight and allowed us some
excellent views of the bridges crossing to Vyborg and the thick
Karelian
Forest...out here in the wilderness there isn't any difference between
Russia
and Finland.

Crossing
the border was announced by the almost immediate eruption of chirruping
mobile phones - as sure a sign as any that you are back in Finland.